Order 2012

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- 31
Served: August 23, 2012 

### UNITED STATES OF AMERICA DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY WASHINGTON, D.C.

Issued by the Department of Transportation

on the 23 rd day of August , 201 2

Essential Air Service at

Muscle Shoals/Florence/Sheffield/

Tuscumbia, Alabama Alpena, Michigan Iron Mountain/Kingsford, Michigan Brainerd, Minnesota International Falls, Minnesota Greenville, Mississippi Laurel/Hattiesburg, Mississippi and Tupelo, Mississippi
,

under 49 U.S.C. 41731 et seq

. Docket DOT

- OST

- 2000

- 7856

Docket DOT

- OST

- 2009

- 0300
Docket DOT

- OST

- 1999

- 5175
Docket DOT

- OST

- 2011

- 0135
Docket DOT

- OST

- 2009

- 0304
Docket DOT

- OST

- 2008

- 0209
Docket DOT

- OST

- 2001

- 10685
Docket DOT

- OST

- 2009

- 0305

ORDER EXTENDING SERVICE OBLIGATION

Summary

B y this O rder, we extend the Essential A ir S ervice (“EAS”) obligation of the two wholly owned subsidiaries of Pinnacle Airlines Corporation

-- Mesaba Aviation, Inc. (“Mesaba”) and Pinnacle Airlines (“Pinnacle”), d/b/a Delta Connection at the eight communities listed below for 30 days, through

, October 7 , 201 2

.

Communities 3-Ltr. State Communities 3-Ltr.

1 Alpena APN Michigan 5 International Falls INL

2 Brainerd BRD Minnesota 6 Iron Mountain IMT

3 Greenville GLH Mississippi 7 Muscle Shoals MSL

4 Hattiesburg PIB Mississippi 8 Tupelo TUP

Background
O n July 15, 2011, Mesaba and Pinnacle filed notice s to terminate their service at the above eight communities. By Order 2011

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- 5, issued on September 13, 2011, we prohibited the air carriers from suspending service at the communities in accordance with 49 U.S.C. § 41734(b)

.The notices at all of these communities were triggered by Mesaba/Pinnacle’s retirement of its
fleet of 34

- seat Saab 340 aircraft. All of the service is now provided with 50

- seat regional jets. As a result of the larger jet aircraft replacing the smaller Saab 340 aircraft, we will require the statutory frequency requirement of two round trips a day, six days a week, i.e., twelve round trips
a week.

We have received proposals and comments regard ing service at the above

- captioned
communities

. 1 However, replacement service may not commence before September 7 , 2012, the
end of the current hold

- in period. In accordance with 49 U.S.C. § 41734 (c ), we must extend the service obligations of Mesaba and Pinnacle for an additional 30 days, or until replacement service actually begins, whichever occurs first. However, the Department will continue to provide compensation to Mesaba and Pinnacle pursuant to 49 U.S.C. § 41734(d).

This Order is issued under the authority assigned in 14 CFR 385.12(k)(5).

ACCORDINGLY,
1. We require Mesaba Aviation, Inc. and Pinnacle Airlines, d/b/a Delta Connection , to provide 12 round trips a week to a medium or larg e hub airport at the above

- captioned communities for an additional 30 days, through October 7

, 2012, or until replacement service actually begins,
whichever occurs first ; 2

2. We direct Mesaba Aviation, Inc. and Pinnacle Airlines to retain all book s , records, and other source and summary documentation to support subsidy claims for payment, and to preserve and maintain such documentation in a manner that readily permits its audit and examination by representatives of the Department. Such documentatio n shall be retained for seven years from the date of service of this Order, or until the Department indicates that the records may be destroyed, whichever comes first. Copies of flight logs for aircraft sold or disposed of must be
retained. The air carri er may forfeit its compensation for any claim that is not supported under
the terms of this O rder.

3

. These Dockets will remain open until further o rder of the Department; and

1 The Department has issued Selection Orders for all of the above communities. However, the selected air carriers have not yet announced a start date. Copies of those Selection Orders may be accessed online through the Department’s Dockets Management Sy stem at: http://www.regulations.gov by entering each community’s respective Docket number in the “Enter Keyword or ID” field.

2 In accordance with 49 U.S.C. § 41734(c), the Department will continue to extend M esaba and Pinnacle’s service obligation for successive 30

- day periods as necessary until replacement service actually begins.4. The Department will serve a copy of this O rder on the mayors and airport managers of : Muscle Shoals, Alabama; Alpena, and Iron Mountain/Kingsford, Michigan; Brainerd, and International Falls, Minnesota; Greenville, Laurel/Hattiesburg, and Tupelo, Mississippi; and on Mesaba Aviation, Inc. and Pinnacle Airlines

.

Persons entitled to petition the Department for review of this Order under the Department’s Aviation Economic Regulations, 14 CFR Part 385.50, must file such petition within ten (10) days after the date of service of this Order.

This Order will be effecti ve immediately, and the filing of a petition for review shall not preclude its effectiveness.

By:

TODD M. HOMAN
Director Office of Aviation Analysis (SEAL) An electronic version of this document is available on the World Wide Web at http://www.regulations.gov